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In 2012, consulting firm Gartner made a prediction many considered to be bold: By 2017, chief marketing officers will spend more on IT than chief information officers.

Now it’s 2017. While there are no hard metrics to quantify that prediction yet, we are seeing transformation all around us. The World Economic Forum is calling the modern era the "fourth industrial revolution." Artificial intelligence, automation, bots, smart data, machine learning and more are shifting how we engage with organizations, necessitating a shift in leadership behaviors across functions. Marketing and technology are at the forefront of this transformation and serve as integrated digital coaches.

Consider how IT and marketing have gradually merged over recent decades:

1990s: IT departments are there to keep computer networks and email servers up while marketing focuses on traditional outlets, such as broadcast and print.

2000s: IT departments add websites to their responsibilities. Marketing departments begin to shift their budgets to digital.

2010s: IT departments add app support and social media to their responsibilities. Marketing departments now have social media specialists, website landing pages, and multiple online ad channels, all broken down by various analytics.

As technology and marketing converge, it becomes evident that a single hybrid role should act as the bridge between marketing and IT departments. The idea of a chief marketing technologist, or CMT (a generic term which may vary from company to company), fulfills the need for someone who understands the needs of marketing but also the capabilities and limitations of IT -- and someone who keeps an eye on new technology possibilities, such as social media trends or app capabilities.

Consider some of the most important areas that technology and marketing overlap:

Analytics: The difference in metrics from today to a decade ago is enormous, and the ability to gather real-time metrics about all aspects of digital marketing can provide invaluable feedback, allowing for adjustments and insights on both micro and macro scales.

Automation: From online ads to social media blasts to CRM follow-ups, many tools now allow for smart automation on a wide range of variables. In order to execute this automation, managers need to understand both technical configuration and strategic choices.

Digital Engagement: Channels and possibilities for online ads have evolved dramatically with the rise of smartphones and social media. While ads used to be determined solely by keyword, targeting can now be refined by age, gender, education, interests and more -- all with the ability to make updates in real time.

Content Management: Content is critical, not just for branding and communication, but for other efforts such as landing pages and search engine optimization. Thus, it takes a technical eye to look at big picture strategy over creative communication.

New Initiatives: Digital marketing is evolving quickly. In recent years, companies have rolled out new initiatives to further marketing and branding, from viral videos to gamification apps.

Nearly all of the platforms for these areas have a technical interface for management and analytics, which requires training even for a computer-literate person. At the same time, the resulting data and tools fall outside of the traditional IT realm of concerns (website availability, email uptime, internal networking and security). A CMT has to understand the goals of a marketing initiative as well as the capabilities and budget of the IT department.

In addition, as new platforms and cutting-edge ideas hit the industry, the CMT should be the advocate for new initiatives, driving the marketing team to take bold steps forward while working with IT staff to build the foundation. And when things roll out, be it a CRM upgrade or a new app for public consumption, the CMT should have a strong enough technical background to understand what is working and what isn't.

On the other hand, the CMT doesn't have to be the head of the adjacent departments. The CMT role does not require specialist-level knowledge of IT hardware, nor the responsibilities of driving the marketing department. But as marketing further and further relies on the digital space, the ability to work across both spaces and keep them in sync is becoming more and more vital.

In this process flow, the marketing department can put in technology requests to the CMT, who then assesses the requirements, pros/cons, and other factors before working with the IT department to make it happen. The ideal CMT has a technical background but has transitioned to the business side of things, though it can work the other way around as well.

Regardless of what the title actually is, it's clear that a role such as this is becoming increasingly critical. Budgets are trending toward the digital space, and while companies are starting to invest more and more in things like social media and online ads, spending on print and traditional channels is decreasing. Though the marketing department still determines the overall brand direction, message and value proposition, a CMT is the one who will oversee execution on the digital side.

With money continuing to shift away from traditional marketing, the CMT is becoming perhaps the most important person in the marketing role -- the single person who understands just how to make those marketing ideas work across online channels. In 2017, the CMT is no longer just a nice-to-have position; it's simply a necessity.